Race For Governor: Donation Money Talks

In a big shift, the Republican gubernatorial candidate is getting the bulk of the telecom and cable money.

It's almost an axiom these days that if you're a big corporation that wants something done at the statehouse, you better sprinkle a little money on each party's gubernatorial candidate.

The telecommunications and cable industries, which increasingly are becoming linked because of technology, are some heavy hitters regarding donations. These interests have donated more than $2 million in the past five years in Virginia races. The companies spent $875,000 on lobbyists in 2003 and 2004, a recent study by the Center for Public Integrity found.

Now that money is pouring into the 2005 governor's race. The telecom and cable money is flowing more heavily to Republican Jerry Kilgore, whose $152,628 is 75 percent higher than Democrat Tim Kaine's $87,338, the Virginia Public Access Project reported.

The industries have virtually ignored independent Russ Potts.

In the last gubernatorial election, the communications companies gave four times more money to Democrat Mark R. Warner, who made his money in the business, than to Republican challenger Mark Earley.

"It's a very import shift and illustrative of what we're seeing at a lot of levels," said Tucker Martin, spokesman for Kilgore. "It shows that Tim Kaine is too liberal to replicate what Mark Warner has done."

Kaine is happy about the support from the business community, spokeswoman Delacey Skinner said.

"A lot of the support Mark Warner saw from the industry was from relationships he had in the industry," she said.

Neither candidate has expressed a single significant position on any telecommunications or cable television issue. Martin acknowledged that and said businesses were supporting Kilgore more heavily because they thought he would keep taxes and restrictions on companies low.

"It's a philosophical-based support," Martin said. "Business interests are just looking at who will be the most pro-business governor."

There are a few significant telecom/cable legislative issues thatr were unresolved last year. The toughest fight in 2006 likely will revolve around how cable franchises are handed out in the state. Verizon, which slowly is getting into the cable business, tried to get a bill passed last year to make it easier to go in and compete with cable companies.

Another big change would overhaul the way that telecom services are taxed. It would add a new satellite tax and change bills for various services to a 5 percent flat tax. But localities have fought the measure, fearing that they will lose revenues. Kaine supports simplifying the taxes.

Neither of these issues, however, explains wireless provider Sprint. The company wears the crown as the largest of the individual telecom and cable donors for the governor's race. Unlike other big companies, Sprint is backing only one candidate -- Jerry Kilgore, to the tune of more than $38,000, while tossing Kaine a $600 bone.

Sprint's aggressive backing of Kilgore comes off an election where the company played the typical hand -- backing Warner and Earley with a little more than $5,000 each.

Comcast, by far the largest donor, has been especially generous -- giving more than $30,000 each to Kaine and Kilgore.

For Comcast, the nation's largest cable company with big operations in Northern Virginia, backing each candidate is a big shift. In the last election, the company dropped $25,000 on Warner (and another $25,000 for the inauguration) and didn't support Earley.

The cable companies in Virginia also have given heavily in this race through their lobbying arm, the Virginia Cable Telecommunications Association. The group has thrown $22,000 at the candidates, with Kilgore getting $1,000 more than Kaine.

The increase in cable money flowing into the election might be a preview of the fight about to unfold over Verizon's desire to more easily offer cable television service.

"I wouldn't be surprised if they stepped up their efforts because they want to maintain their competitive advantage -- their monopoly status -- for as long as they can," Verizon spokesman Harry Mitchell said.

The cable companies defeated the measure last year, but Verizon will be back again with another bill in 2006.

Verizon succeeded in having a bill passed in Texas that streamlined the cable franchise process and is now rolling out the service quickly in that state.

"It's never been needed more than now," Mitchell said. "What's sorely needed in that business is choice."

Verizon has gotten franchise agreements in Northern Virginia and is building its new system in Virginia Beach, but it will push again for a new law to simplify the franchising process statewide.

"We're hoping to streamline the process, so we don't have to spend six to 18 months in each municipality to hammer out each agreement," Mitchell said.

Like its cable opponents, Verizon gave to both candidates but gave $5,000 more to Kilgore.